AFP, GENEVA - Malaria killed nearly one million people worldwide in 2006 with children under five and African countries bearing the brunt, the World Health Organisation said Thursday.

"There were an estimated 247 million malaria cases among 3.3 billion people at risk in 2006, causing nearly a million deaths, mostly of children under 5 years," the WHO said in its Annual Malaria Report.

Party leaders believe president's position is untenable after court rules he influenced prosecutors against rival

The Guardian Online

Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, could be removed from office within days and replaced by an interim leader, it was reported today.

Local media said senior African National Congress (ANC) figures had decided Mbeki's position was untenable after a court found that he influenced prosecutors to bring fraud and corruption charges against his rival and successor as the party's president, Jacob Zuma.

Thousands of Japanese bureaucrats are under investigation for possible involvement in a toxic rice scandal that has prompted a mass recall of alcoholic drinks and shaken the country's reputation for food safety.

The investigation by the agriculture ministry comes after a rice miller was found to have sold contaminated rice for human consumption in order to boost profits.

The caretaker government's antigraft drive has lost steam lately as 158 people detained in 85 cases have been bailed out by the higher court, home adviser said on Thursday.

The government, however, is taking steps to file appeals in these cases, MA Matin, home adviser and chairman, National Coordination Committee on Curbing Serious Crimes said Thursday while briefing senior officials on law and order in the home ministry conference room.

The Anticorruption Commission has detected embezzlement of about Tk 42 crore in the Chittagong zone of state-run telecoms operator Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL).

An ACC special team in its investigation found that the money in repair and maintenance heads was siphoned off during the fiscal years 2000-2001 to 2007-2008 in 13 divisional offices of the zone, ACC director general (Administration) Col Hanif Iqbal said at regular press briefing Thursday.

Speakers at a discussion on Thursday suggested that all industries, including garment factories, be moved outside Dhaka to protect the capital city.

At a discussion on river pollution and protection of environment at the office of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), they expressed fear that the pollution created by its inhabitants might destroy the city.

After spending only three days under $100 a barrel, oil prices shot back up on Thursday morning, erasing most of a $10-a-barrel decline in just two days, reports AP.

Crude oil futures traded above $100 shortly after the open, before falling back slightly to $99.75. The rise follows a large jump on Wednesday when oil gained 6.6 percent as panicky investors fled the stock market to seek shelter in the perceived safety of commodities.